What Scared Mikey
by KleeZeeNex
Summary: Young Raphael just wants to get some sleep, but two things won't let him. One is a thunderstorm. The other is his frightened little brother.


_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT._

_A/N: This was one of those ideas that I just had to use. I expected it to turn out a little more "cute" than it did, but with Raph there is just so much mush a fanfic can handle. ;) So I went for humor and a nice brotherly moment. Hope you like it!_

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A thunderstorm raged in the skies as it looked down upon the paved streets above the sewer systems, sending pulses of loud blasts and clashes through the night. In the bowels of those sewer systems were various rats and other creatures that generally dwelled in the tunnels, fleeing frantically from the sound of nature's drums. But there were some creatures in the sewer channels that were not disturbed in the least by the pounding thunder. Five individuals, four of which who were at the tender age of eleven and one much older and wiser, were nestled soundly in their part of the sewer that they called home, sleeping peacefully for the time being—save for one.

BOOM!

From underneath his red mask, Raphael opened one eye.

CRACK!

Raphael growled and pulled his pillow over his head in annoyance. He was not sleeping peacefully. The storm had kept him awake for most of the night, echoing in his head and pushing back his subconscious mind. Loud, thundering noise caused Raphael to toss and turn, throwing the occasional blow to his pillow or mattress. No, the storm was not allowing him to sleep peacefully.

Frankly, it was driving him up the wall.

Raphael sighed and finally sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. If he wasn't going to get any sleep, he was going to do something productive. So, naturally, he headed for the television. When he left his room, he noticed that it was abnormally dark in the lair. There were usually a few small lights from appliances around his family's home that illuminated the main section slightly, but now it was almost pitch black. Raphael guessed that the power must have gone out. Oh, well, no matter. Raphael had no problem with the darkness. He was ninja after all.

The first two doors he passed on his way muffled sounds of snores and steady breathing from two of his brothers. Leonardo and Donatello had always been light sleepers. As he passed a third door, however, Raphael heard a soft _thud_, followed by a louder crash that was almost undetectable over the thunder. Curious, Raphael walked up to the door and listened carefully. He heard nothing more from within.

"Mike?" Raphael whispered in between claps of thunder. Nothing. Suspecting now that maybe he really had heard nothing in the first place, Raphael backed up a little from the door. But just to be sure…

Raphael gently opened the door to his brother's room and peeked inside. His eyes had adjusted more to the darkness. The first thing his eyes scanned was the bed, which he was surprised to find empty. A sheet was halfway slid off of the mattress. Then Raphael followed the sheet with his eyes to the floor and found a big lump wrapped within it. He sighed.

"Mikey, what are you doing?" Raphael asked exasperatedly, going over to the lump and pulling back enough of the sheet to reveal his little brother's head.

Michelangelo looked up at Raphael and pushed back more of the sheet. "Nothing," he answered. "I fell."

"Out of bed?" Raphael inquired skeptically.

"No," Michelangelo retorted. "I was getting up to…" He trailed off.

"What?"

Michelangelo looked down and mumbled, "My nightlight went off."

Raphael shook his head. He thought about teasing his brother about such a childish thing. But he instead just said, "The power went out."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the lights flickered on for a fraction of a second. It was just enough for Raphael to see Michelangelo's wide eyes and fearful expression clearly. Then, all was dark again. Raphael rolled his eyes. "Mike, I thought you weren't scared of storms anymore," he said.

"I am _not_ scared," Michelangelo shot back.

Raphael raised an eye ridge. "Uh huh."

"I'm not!" Michelangelo said defensively. "I'm ninja. I've gone through Master Splinter's 'extreme training session'. I've seen the scariest movies known to man _and_ turtle kind. I've even had to retrieve a lost can opener from Don's lab of experiments. I am not scared of some measly, sorry excuse for a—"

A huge roar of thunder suddenly shook through the lair, making Michelangelo shout in surprise and duck underneath his sheet again. Raphael folded his arms and waited until Michelangelo peeked sheepishly over his covers. "… storm," Michelangelo finished in small voice.

Raphael sighed again. "Grab some pillows and come on Mikey," he said. "We're camping out in front of the TV." He didn't particularly like the idea of spending the night listening to his little brother whine about a thunderstorm, but knew that if he didn't bring up the idea, Michelangelo wouldn't dare to ask and would probably spend the entire night cowering in his room.

Not saying anything, Michelangelo quickly grabbed some pillows and blankets while Raphael did the same from his own room. Then, they went down to the area in front of the television and settled in on the floor. Raphael was just reaching for a remote when Michelangelo finally spoke.

"Uh, Raph?" Michelangelo said hesitantly.

"What?"

"The power's out."

"… Oh." _Duh_. He dropped the remote and lied down on his blankets, staring at the blackness.

"So… what now?" Raphael heard Michelangelo say beside him.

Raphael rolled over and pulled his covers over his head. "We sleep," he grumbled. Michelangelo rustled in his blankets and said nothing for a while.

Just as Raphael was about to fall asleep, the thunderstorm rumbling in the back of his hearing, Michelangelo spoke. "I'm sorry I was scared of the storm," he said quietly.

Raphael opened his eyes.

"They're just so loud," Michelangelo continued. "I mean, you'd think we wouldn't be able to hear anything from down here but the tunnels just seem to project everything louder and then it gets all dark and creepy and you can't see anything, which doesn't help when you're trying to _not_ be scared of storms and—"

Raphael rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "So why didn't you just go crying to Splinter or Leo like you used to?" he asked in irritation. "Or even Don. I'm sure he'd fix your _nightlight_ for you so that it would be operated by batteries, that way you won't have to be such a baby about being alone in the…" He stopped when heard Michelangelo sit up beside him. As Raphael looked at his brother, he found Michelangelo glaring at him.

"That's why," Michelangelo declared. Then he rolled over in his covers again.

_Oh_… Raphael thought. He bit his tongue. "Sorry," he mumbled. Michelangelo didn't answer. Raphael turned his head. "It's okay, Mike. Everybody's scared of something," he said.

Michelangelo was silent for a long time before saying softly, "You're not scared of anything."

"… Well, that's right," Raphael said confidently. "But you're different. You're… uh…"

"A wimp."

Raphael tried to think of something to answer with, but just ended up saying dejectedly, "Yes, Mikey. Exactly." He thought for a moment. "Hey, no, I'm afraid of something… those four little stuffed animals that we each had when we were little, with the shapes coming out of their heads. I had the little red one."

Michelangelo grinned and turned to face Raphael, propping himself on his elbow. "Raph… the Teletubbies?" he laughed.

"Well, they were weird!" Raphael said defensively. "Besides, the TVs on their stomachs didn't even work. And they eat custard. Eww!"

Michelangelo looked at him curiously. "… Raph, have you actually watched Teletubbies?"

"No."

"Then how did you know that they eat custard?"

Silence.

"Shut up and go to sleep Mikey."

Michelangelo smiled and snuggled into his blankets. The storm above didn't bother him anymore. And he never had to use his nightlight again.

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_A/N: Thank you for reading. And, I do really like reviews if you would like to give me one. Constructive criticism is very welcome._


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